Selly Oak Campus

On the morning of Wednesday 16th July 2008, under the wing of predecessor Tom Goff (SSO 2004-5), I went on a fact finding mission to the University's Selly Oak Campus. While the site remains fairly quiet at this time of year, I found the visit extremely useful in identifying issues and planning for the year ahead.



Some of the sights were fairly promising. For example, an area of the ground floor in the Orchard Learning Resource Centre is undergoing an extensive refit. The space, formerly allocated for books, is to become a general 'common room' area with comfy seating, WiFi, and interactive information screens - whatever they are. This space is to be imaginatively renamed the Green Room.



In other SOC news, it would seem that George Cadbury Hall is undergoing some sort of construction work. I have no idea what at the present time, but will endeavor to find out. The fabulous old building is ideal for performing arts and it has long been hoped that various drama societies such as Article 19 would one day be able to use it for their own performances. Once I find out what is actually happening there, I'll be in a better place to assess the situation.



Not all that I saw was entirely positive though. One issuue that has already been drawn to my attention at this early stage is the poor provision of prayer space for Islamic students on the site. Whereas Selly Oak Campus has it's own Christian chapel on site, all that exists for Islamic students is an area of undesignated space on the top floor of the ORLC. There is also no space for storing prayer mats or any other associated facilities. This is a matter on which I intend to consult the Islamic students of Selly Oak Campus, in addition to the Guild's ISoc, in the hope of finding a solution acceptable to all parties. I intend to keep you posted on this issue.





Unfortunately I haven't got hold of any photos taken on that day. You'll have to make do with this one of Archibald House - the base of the sprawling BBC empire which is also to be found on the campus. It is a lovely building though, and reason enough to visit this Satellite Site.

Handover(s)

All of last week was officially set aside for 121 handovers. In my case this mean't being given an in depth briefing on the role by former SSO (2004-5) Tom Goff, with assistance from his successor Laura Morris (2005-6). I am incredibly gratefully to both for the two and a half hours or so that they gave last Monday, even if the staff of the Selly Sausage didn't look to pleased at the length of time we were on the premises.

Handover is an essential part of the training process and has given me a great deal of thought and direction in approaching my role in the coming 12 months. I believe that a good handover can make the difference between hitting the ground running in September; or fumbling around still wondering what you're meant to be doing come December. Therein lies my gratitude.*

With this in mind, I have been looking forward (not prematurely I hope) to next year. One of my manifesto pledges, and indeed one of the indicators of my success as SSO, is my ability to find a successor. This is why the good work must start now, if I am to inspire the students of Selly Oak Campus - or wherever - to run for SSO next time around, I need to make it clear what the Guild can do for them and why it remains relevant. Satellite Sites Officer has always been an uncontested position in Exec elections and that is something I am anxious to change.

Because no matter how successful (or otherwise) I may be this year, without someone to handover to, any anchiements can so easily fall by the wayside. For Satellite Sites students to really get a better deal, they need long term commitment from the Guild and long term commitment from a number of SSOs

Cheers, and best wishes to all SSOs, past and future.


* to avoid overlooking anyone, I should also mention that other predecessors, in addition to members of the outgoing exec, have also given their assistance in the past few months.

Exec Training

Obviously Exec training was highly productive....

For those not in the know, the ominous purple figure represents the University (in a purely metaphorical way of course) whereas the red blob is the Guild existing in abstract form as an entity, ready to defend the students (not shown). The seamine, I believe, was an afterthought. Personally I would have seen to it that Satellite Sites were represented in this metaphor, but:
(a) there wasn't enough play-dough.
and (b) given the scale we were working on, some of them would have needed to be constructed in the next room.

On a serious note though, this exercise did enable us to think, in an unconventional way, about our role as officers, and the Guild's role as a student union. I think it would be fair to say that the majority of the student body think of the Guild as Joes, Subway, Spar, and not much else. This is a real shame and will probably be one of our biggest issues as an Executive team over the coming 12 months. Student apathy is one reason for all of us to really give 110% to our roles - if our acts as officers are both positive and noticeable, they can only be beneficial in raising the Guild's profile.

Secondly, one thing that struck me most during training was that the Guild has a whole floor I barely even knew about. The average Guild member will probably know very little about departments such as finance, marketing and R&D. If anything, the most contact they will have with Guild staff will be Student Development - "the coalface" as I've heard it referred to. This is doubly tragic since not only are they all essential to how the Guild operates, but some, such as R&D are a powerful symbol of what the Guild stands for.

If there's one thing I've learned from Exec training, it's that we, as officers, are privaleged to know just how much the Guild as a union is capable of. Now it's our job to take this message to our members.


...even when they're only formed of yellow playdough

Satellite Sites Officer

"What's that when it's at home"

This was by all means representative of the sort of comments I heard whilst out on the campaign trail during that glorious month of February. Poor ignorant students I thought, if only they knew. That said, the job title doesn't make it obvious what I'm for. One doesn't have to be Steven Fry to work out what the Womans Officer or LGBTQ Officer does, but Satellite* Sites? What are they?

The Guild defines Satellite Sites as being "locations, other than the main Edgbaston Campus, where University of Birmingham students are based". These sites consist of a diverse range of locations with very disparate issues. I'll list them if I may:

- Selly Oak Campus
- the Medical School
- the School of Dentistry
- Nursing
- The Ironbridge Institute
- The Shakespeare Institute

Then comes the part where it's hard to follow - students on placements, both industrial and international, medical students on placements in hospitals, and so on.

So what am I for?

The role of the Guild's Satellite Sites Officer is to build links with all of these sites and ensure that the students based upon them don't miss out on the full student experience, simply because of their location. With that in mind, I aim to make a positive difference to the lives of students on Satellite Sites - but then, you know that bit already.

Cheers all.





* For the record, 'Satellite' has two 'l's and a single 't' at the end. dictionary.com will confirm that. Just thought I'd clarify.